American Home Schools

New Jersey has no statute that directly addresses homeschooling. The compulsory education law (N.J.S.A. 18A:38-25) requires parents of school age children to cause them "regularly to attend the public schools of the district or a day school in which there is given instruction equivalent to that provided in the public schools [...] or to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school." Homeschooling falls under "elsewhere than at school." "Equivalent" was held, in State v. Massa (95 NJ Super 382; 1967), to mean academically equivalent only -- i.e., the same basic subject areas must be covered, but not necessarily in the same way as the schools cover them. School districts are not required or authorized to review curricula, test homeschooled children, or monitor their outcomes. Parents are not required by law to notify their public school district of their intention to educate the child elsewhere than at school. Practice has varied over the years, with some families notifying every year, some notifying only the first year, and some never notifying. Notification is recommended, as a courtesy, when removing a child from public school to begin homeschooling.

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Summary:

"Every parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of a child between six and 16 shall cause such child regularly to attend the public schools of the district or a day school in which there is given instruction equivalent to that provided in the public schools for children of similar grades and attainments or to receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school." (Emphasis added)